Last week of the Masks Series

This Thursday is the last in our Masks serious.  The whole thing has been about trying to live authentic lives, and thus to take off our masks.  This Thursday we are going to talk about “Blessed are the Uncool.”  The title is borrowed from a book called “Blessed are the Uncool.”

We are going to look at the Beattitudes and how Jesus’ definition of blessed is different than the worlds.  In truth it’s different than most Christians.  I am praying that this week will be a great time where we see ourr utter dependence on Jesus and him alone and when we trust him we don’t have to try to “cool.”

I’m excited about this.

At the same time in transit we are talking about How the world views Christians and how we can change those perceptions as individuals.  Good stuff!

Xpenser

So I hate keeping track of ministry finances because it’s just one more thing that I have to do.  So I tend to put it off.  But that’s not very GTD-ish.  So my brain get’s cluttered up with minutiae.  When I should just get things off my brain so I can focus on other more important stuff.

I have shared a little bit of GTD stuff before like 43folders.com, pastorhacks, and backpack.  these are all great tools and resources for getting better organized and for me it’s always a work in progress.

Well at pastorhacks last week there was a link to xpenser.com which is awesome.  It’s a free expense tracker, So I fired it up and started rockin’ it last week to find that I can email my expenses to my account, text them or just enter them on the website.  Pretty stinkin’ cool.  Check it out it might just save your brain.

Masks

at >>beyond>> we have been talking about being authentic during our current series masks.  Last week I felt went really well.  Considering that last week was our first week in a new place we did all right.  I am excited for where things are going to go.

But the whole principal behind the series is that we all wear masks at some point or another.  last week we talked about how we wear masks to cover over our shame and how Jesus’ grace allows us to take off the masks.  Jesus removes all shame.  That’s awesome.  I love that I can come to Jesus and I don’t have to wear a mask because he knows me through and through.

I was watching my son this morning.  He likes to hide right now so he will put his toy baskets over his head thinking that he is hiding.  But he’s standing right in the middle of the living room.  That’s how we are when we think we are hiding from God.  He sees right through our masks.  So stop trying to hide.  Just be real with Him!

I just thought I would share that.  Have a good one.

Currently Reading – UnChristian

I have been following the Catalyst Podcast and Fermi Project for a bit now and when I heard about the book UnChristian I knew I had to read it.  This book is by David Kinnaman, who works with Barna to do research that helps the church better understand the world around us.

UnChristian is a study that looks at the perceptions of 16-29 year olds towards the church and christians.  So far it’s pretty interesting.  I think this is a book that pastors should get and start to learn from.  I’m sure I’ll post a full review when I am done.  But for now go get the book.

Tech Fast

Love him or hate him, this is a great post from Mark Driscoll.

Kathy and I recently went on vacation and I left my laptop at home, my cell phone pretty much stayed in our hotel room and I only used my watch to make sure we were able to use our fast passes at disneyland.  For half a week, which is really a long time, I didn’t check email, blogs, news sites, get phone messages, nothing.  It was awesome!

What teens expect from church

This study is worth the read.  It was encouraging because as a teacher of the word I am purposefully trying to make what we talk about relevant and that is what this study shows is helpful.

It is discouraging because this study also confirms that by and large students don’t really care about what’s going on in student ministry.  So how can we change that?  I am praying that we will begin to engage students where they care.